Top Ten Tuesday- Haunted House Novels

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme created by The Broke and the Bookish blog.

This week’s topic is: Halloween Freebie, so I’ve decided to talk about my favorite haunted house novels. 

 

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Little Stranger is so incredibly atmospheric and vividly written. I could easily picture Hundreds Hall and its decaying glamour. Sarah Waters has created an engrossing and eerie read with an incredibly memorable and shocking ending. Fingers crossed the upcoming movie does the book justice.

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi 

This is an experimental and lyrical modern gothic tale with an unusual narrative structure. At times the house itself is an unreliable narrator, and it seems to want something from the teenaged girl suffering from pica who lives under its roof. Oyeyemi has crafted a uniquely disturbing reading experience, one that leaves more questions than answers.

This House is Haunted by John Boyne 

I love a good Victorian ghost story, and John Boyne’s This House is Haunted ticks all the boxes. There’s a grand estate, a governess, two creepy children, and plenty of foggy weather. It’s a perfect blend of Jane Eyre and The Turn of the Screw, with references to Dickens thrown in for good measure.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson’s take on the haunted house novel is perfectly unsettling. It is equal parts psychological and supernatural-a mix that makes it all the more terryfying.

 

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

This classic ghost story has inspired so many other books, including several on this very list. It includes some of my favorite gothic elements and is all the creepier due to its ambiguity.

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

One of my most recent haunted house reads, The Silent Companions was perfectly spooky and atmospheric. Here, the house is haunted by sinister painted wooden figures that seem to move about on their own. It’s a creepy gothic tale with an ending that I’m still thinking about. The only thing better than a haunted house story, is a Victorian era haunted house story.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 

This is technically a haunted apartment novel, since it is set in a London flat near Highgate Cemetery. The descriptions of the city are actually some of my favorite parts of this unusual ghost story. Her Fearful Symmetry is an atmospheric read with evocative prose and an ending that left me a bit enraged.

Florence and Giles by John Harding

Harding draws inspiration from The Turn of the Screw for this story featuring a crumbling New England mansion, an orphaned brother and sister, and a governess. This is a clever and page-turning read with an ending that will leave you chilled. I can’t wait to read the sequel The Girl Who Couldn’t Read!

 

Happy Halloween!! Do you have a favorite haunted house novel?